– USA, MD – Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc., a privately-held clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the study of nucleic acid immunotherapy platforms, today announced the appointment of five new members to its Board of Directors from HLB, Co. Ltd and its HLB Bio subsidiaries.
“I am delighted to welcome the new members from HLB to our board as they bring exceptional scientific, operational and commercial expertise to the group,” said Dr. William Hearl, CEO. “As we advance our UNITE platform and our efforts in immune-oncology, their expertise and successful track record in bringing novel oncology drugs to market will be invaluable to our team.”
The five new members of the ITI Board of Directors are as follows:
Yang-gon Jin, Chairman of the ITI Board, has been leading the rapid growth of the HLB group based on his extensive business insights and accumulated management know-how over the years as a chairman of the HLB group and CEO of HLB Co., Ltd. and HLB LifeScience Co., Ltd. He led the investment in HLB Cell, which has been dedicated to specialized stem cell research and artificial liver therapies, and invested in Elevar Therapeutics, a new drug development company in the United States that has been developing the targeted anticancer drug ‘Rivoceranib’ since 2009. Mr. Jin majored in Law from Wonkwang University and obtained a master’s degree in Economics from Yonsei University in Korea.
Hyuk Joo, Jee (Kevin), Vice president of HLB Co. Ltd. Prior to joining HLB, Mr. H. Jee spent almost 25 years in the financial sector with various roles ranging from financial analyst to private equity fund management. Currently, Mr. Jee is responsible for strategic planning and off-shore acquisition for the HLB Group, while managing the global Investors Relations department. He also oversees capital market affairs and corporate restructuring in Next Science, a KOSPI-listed company related to HLB. He received B.S in Business from Korea University.
Arlo McGinn, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer at Elevar Therapeutics. He has worked at Elevar Therapeutics, an HLB Ltd. company, since 2015 in positions of increasing responsibility from a Director of Product Development to Vice President and currently as the Chief Scientific Officer. Arlo is a chemist and pharmacologist who has authored numerous scientific publications and presented at a number of industry and academic conferences and is a Trustee for the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation.
Dr. Bokhwan Chun, President of HLB Bio Business Group, responsible for managing bio and pharmaceutical business at HLB. He has more than 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry beginning at the MOGAM Institute, followed by Green Cross, Celltrion, Genexine, and Daewoong. He also had experiences worked with global companies including Bristol-Myers Squibb, Genentech, and Ajinomoto. Dr. Chun developed several platform technologies for the development of biopharmaceutics. He played a critical leader role in process development and GMP manufacturing of multiple biopharmaceutical products including virus vaccines, hormones, therapeutic proteins, monoclonal antibodies, biosimilars and biobetters, and gene and stem cell therapeutics. Dr. Chun has advanced knowledge in the smart bioprocess development for biomanufacturing with GMP compliance.
Alex S. Kim, CEO at Elevar Therapeutics, an HLB Ltd. company has 30 years of in-depth experience that spans several disciplines including business analysis, business development, operations, capital fundraising, M&A and licensing deals, and overall growth strategy. His background spans startups to large pharmaceutical and specialty pharma businesses, and his multinational strengths have enabled the reach of approved therapies into new markets across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Mr. Kim received his Masters in International Business from Sophia University in Tokyo.
About UNITE
ITI’s investigational UNITE platform, or UNiversal Intracellular Targeted Expression, works by fusing pathogenic antigens with the Lysosomal Associated Membrane Protein, an endogenous protein in humans, for immune processing. In this way, ITI’s vaccines (DNA or RNA) have the potential to utilize the body’s natural biochemistry to develop a broad immune response including antibody production, cytokine release and critical immunological memory. This approach could put UNITE technology at the crossroads of immunotherapies in a number of illnesses, including cancer, allergy and infectious diseases. UNITE is currently being employed in Phase II clinical trials as a cancer immunotherapy. ITI is also collaborating with academic centers and biotechnology companies to study the use of UNITE in cancer types of high mortality, including cases where there are limited treatment options like glioblastoma and acute myeloid leukemia. ITI believes that these early clinical studies may provide a proof of concept for UNITE therapy in cancer, and if successful, set the stage for future studies, including combinations in these tumor types and others. Preclinical data is currently being developed to explore whether LAMP nucleic acid constructs may amplify and activate the immune response in highly immunogenic tumor types and be used to create immune responses to tumor types that otherwise do not provoke an immune response.
About Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc.
Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. is a privately-held, clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of vaccines through its proprietary technology platform, UNiversal Intracellular Targeted Expression, which is designed to utilize the body’s natural biochemistry to develop vaccines that generate broad immune responses. UNITE has a robust history of applications in various therapeutic areas, including infectious diseases, oncology, allergy and autoimmune diseases. ITI is primarily focused on applying the UNITE platform to oncology, where it could potentially have broad applications, including viral antigens, cancer antigens, neoantigens and antigen-derived antibodies as biologics. The Company has built a large pipeline from UNITE with six oncology programs and two allergy programs. ITI has entered into a significant allergy partnership with Astellas Pharma and has formed several academic collaborations with leading Immuno-oncology researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute, Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, and Duke University. ITI maintains its headquarters in Rockville, Maryland.
For more information: https://www.immunomix.com
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